Hopes Faith in Humanity
by Charms20
Summary: When an old classmate won't give up a grudge towards Claire and West, it forces them to put their faith in humanity and hope to God they come out alive. Please R & R!
1. Hopes Faith in Humanity

_Claire and West_

_Costa Verde High School_

_California_

"How do we get ourselves into these situations?" West asked staring into the crowd with eyes wide as saucers.

Claire just looked at him. In her face he could tell that she had gained a new confidence about herself and about what she knew she would have to do.

"Well. They want to see a show. Let's give them one... I'm tired of running" Claire said with determination.

Both Claire and West looked into the stadium and listened to the crowd shouting at them "JUMP! JUMP!".

"Do you want me to catch you?" West asked looking at Claire.

Claire looked at the people all around her, her classmates, her teachers. She took a few moments and contemplated this decision.

"No. I'll show them exactly what I can do. You just get out of here as quickly as you can. I don't need you to be brought into all this insanity."

"Claire, I'm already a part of this. I'm not leaving here without you."

They looked at each other and realized that there was only one way they could get out of this situation with the least amount of problems. Just do what comes naturally.

The big television screens of the stadium both showed their apprehensive faces as they prepared themselves for what they had to do. There was no point in hiding what they could do when the entire school and faculty had planned this little prank. Claire knew that she couldn't run away from this. She did think of playing dead. But how long would that last until everyone saw her breathing? Her dad took two bullets to save her from this kind of treatment and she screwed up. But there wasn't time for guilt now. She knew that she could handle herself if something bad happened. Her hope in society seemed to be in a state of desperation. What would she give to insure the people about to witness her ability would just accept it? Maybe if she believed it, it would happen. This was the only thought that gave her the courage to go through with this.

"STOP STALLING!" said Debbie, the girl who had initially started this chaos. She was standing behind them on the score board, two hundred feet above the ground. It seemed the grudge she had on Claire and West didn't seem to fade in the months she was suspended from school. "If you really can heal yourself Claire, you should be fine. I know there's something not right about you too" she said looking at West, "I guess we'll find out what that is right now!"

Claire was looking down at the ground below. Her face was magnified on the big screens in the stadium. Everyone was staring at her face when she looked up and gave them all a smirk. This is what made her special. The fact that she knew that she was better than all of these people. She looked at West and noticed he had a twinkle in his eye that she knew meant he wasn't scared of what was going to happen. They would go through this together.

Debbie and her crew moved closer to where Claire and West were standing at the edge. They ran forward, arms stretched out, coming closer and closer to pushing them off.


	2. One Week Ago

Authors Note: This fic takes place a few weeks after the prank West and Claire pulled on Debbie in the Season 2 episode "The Line".

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* * *

__One Week Ago_

_Claire Bennett_

_Costa Verde High School_

_California _

It was another day at Costa Verde High School and Claire Bennett was in gym class struggling to stay focused on her exciting game of volleyball. She didn't understand how people could just live life every day, not questioning anything or wondering what else was out there in the world. For her, it was just another day to get through acting like she was a normal teenage girl.

It's been a day since Claire and West had pulled their prank on Debbie. It turned out Debbie was suspended for the rest of the school year and rumours around the school were that she wasn't dealing with that punishment well. Apparently she's been ranting and raving that she was SURE she saw Claire fall 50 feet to her death.

"No one will believe her..." Claire thought, "They have no proof."

While Claire was optimistic about the whole situation, what she didn't notice was Debbie sneaking into the gymnasium. She snuck into the girl's locker room and no one seemed to notice. What Claire also failed to notice was that she seemed to have lost focus in the volleyball game and the ball was headed straight for her. With a sickening crack it smacked her square on the nose.

"OUCH!" Claire yelled while her hands flew up to her nose.

Her classmates and teachers ran up to her to see if she needed any help. Claire discretely used one of her hands to snap her nose back into place before, she hoped, anyone noticed.

"Oh my God, Claire are you ok?" asked her gym teacher Mrs. Lock.

"I'm fine guys," Claire said exasperated, "See?"

She removed her hands and aside from a lot of blood, her nose looked normal. Everyone looked at her as if they knew something wasn't right. But Mrs. Lock just looked around and said "Must've been a bad nose bleed. Let's get you cleaned up. Class dismissed! Go get changed!"

In the locker room Claire washed off all the blood, made sure everyone knew she was ok and got changed for her second period biology class. The majority of girls had left the locker room by the time Claire was finished getting dressed. She bent down to pick up her backpack and when she stood up she came face to face with Debbie.

"Hi Claire," she said sternly.

"Debbie? What are you doing here? You're suspended until next year right?" Claire asked confused but hesitant.

"Yes. I am. Thanks to you and your lies! I know I'm right Claire," Debbie snapped with assurance in her words, "I know I saw you fall on those steps and twist your neck and break your legs."

Claire did her best to put on a surprised face and keep her voice smooth.

"Debbie you were drunk. You were hallucinating."

"No, I wasn't Claire. I had a bottle and I took a few sips but I was fully aware of myself. I only pretended to be drunk so I could push those loser wannabe cheerleaders around."

Claire was starting to get worried. So Debbie saw everything and she knows Claire actually did fall.

"Shit" Claire thought to herself. She knew her face gave herself away and Debbie noticed.

"How did you do it Claire? What ARE you? How did you not stay dead?" Debbie said accusingly while taking slow steps closer to Claire.

"I don't know what you're talking about Debbie. How could I have fallen that far and not have a scratch on me? You can't prove anything," she said not quite sure of herself.

"I KNOW what I saw Claire! And I'm not going to get held back a year and ruin my high school life because some blonde bimbo can't tell the truth!" Debbie said, "If you don't fess up...I'll prove it myself," she proceeded to dig into her pocket and take out a switch blade.

"Debbie...what are you doing? Don't –" Claire's words were cut short when Debbie ran at her and dug the sharp blade right into Claire's stomach.

Claire backed up away from Debbie, hands clutching the knife embedded in her stomach. She had a look of extreme pain written all over her face. But that soon turned into anger. She stopped gasping for air, looked right at Debbie, who had a look of triumph on her face, reached down and pulled the knife out of her stomach. It made a sickening noise as the wound healed up.

Claire looked up at Debbie, eyes blazing with anger, "Are you happy now? You might think you won your little game, but you just try proving this to anyone. You won't be able to get this close to me every again in order to do that. So you know what Debbie? As of now, you still look like the teenage drunk who's suspended and forced to be a year behind in high school than the rest of her friends."

Debbie stared at her with wide eyes.

"I was right. You are a freak. I don't care about anything now...all I know is I was right. And everyone is going to know it," she said with confidence. Debbie stared into Claire's eyes, spun on her heel and ran out of the locker room.

Claire was left alone, bloody and afraid of what Debbie would do with this new found knowledge. She could only think of two words to describe her situation:

"Holy shit."


End file.
